My CV is My Curriculum: The Making of an International Educator with Spiritual Values

 

 

(RS PUNIA)

 

 

The Abstract

 

 

This autobiographical self-study presents my living educational theory of lifelong learning as an international educator with spiritual values including belief in cosmic unity, continuous professional development for personal and social development of life in general. The landscape of knowledge includes India, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Samoa and Mauritius in several roles including a lecturer, a teacher trainer, a change agent in curriculum, staff, school development, a training technologist in corporate learning and a student in the University of Bath.

 

 A living educational theory approach begins by asking questions of the kind, how do I improve my work?  Practitioners produce accounts of their learning. A living educational theory is living in two ways: people and their theory changes as a result of learning and they are living what they learn. New knowledge emerges in the process. A useful epistemology of lifelong learning of an international educator has emerged from this inquiry.

 

Taking responsibility for my roles and contextualising problems and solutions to problems to match the contexts were the essential dimensions of my lifelong experiential learning. These dimensions originated from my spiritual belief in cosmic unity of life and ethical aims of education.

 

The originality of my contribution to the knowledge base in the living educational theory approach to action research is how I integrated my spiritual and ethical values with technical knowledge to enhance the quality of my professional development and the development of technical and vocational education in the international context.

 

 

 

Dedication

 

This thesis is dedicated to the question expressed in the first quotation.  The next two quotations present two different answers from the secular knowledge. Senge 1990 and Covey 1992 are examples of this type of work.  The last quotation shows that cosmic knowledge is embedded in us waiting to be discovered through meditation and other appropriate ways. Thesis presents my lived experiences in learning to find my answer to this question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is the search for a sense of wholeness to be achieved in a world whose speciality is specialisation, whose language is linear and literal, whole sense of symbolic is derived from cartoon and caricature? How is the sense to be expressed in a world made horizontal by sheer immensity of our knowledge about the world? (Linda olds Metaphors of interrelatedness. Clark 2000, p. 3).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emerging from the new sciences (Bateson, 1979; Goodwin 1994) from the early part of the twentieth century onwards came the emphasis on understanding the whole called ecological, holistic or systemic thinking (Capra 1996)ÉÉÉThis way of thinking has focused attention on systems being integrated and searches for patterns to facilitate understanding of how systems interrelate and make sense (Clark 2000, p. 4).

 

 

 

 

 

Within the body He himself resides;

Yet He cannot be seen, that invisible one.

Under the sway of mind,

Fools know not the truth,

And search for him outside.

 

(Charan Singh Maharaji, 1979)

 

Acknowledgements

 

I am grateful to all my past employers for giving me the opportunity to improve myself and to serve my fellow beings. I am particularly grateful to Dr. King the late speaker of the British parliament in 1958 for intervening on my behalf in securing maintenance grant for two years to pursue a Diploma in Building at the Reading College of Technology. Without this intervention this thesis might not have been written. I have disseminated Dr. KingÕs kindness amongst thousands of deserving students in my professional Life.

 

Human life is a web of relationships. Many relationships influenced my professional life. I mention only a few names. Dr. Waters from Hong Kong was my role model for professionalism in the construction industry and encouraged me to pursue doctorate. Sarwan Singh, the ex-principal of the Fiji Institute of Technology, extended my technical interests to interests in education as a whole. Professor Calderhead of the University of Bath supported my interest in research on ÔteachersÕ thinkingÕ and Dr Whitehead of the University of Bath introduced me to Action Research to understand and share my professional self. The importance of understanding the self before understanding the world came to me from KrishnamurtiÕs writings. My spiritual master was my role model for spiritual living. These people influenced the landmarks in my professional life.

 

I am particularly thankful to Dr. Whitehead for encouraging me to pursue the difficult task of converting my tacit professional experience into professional knowledge presented in this thesis. I undertook this task with some reservations. The dissertation involved much work but it has made significant contribution towards my personal and professional development and towards the knowledge base in technical and vocational education, international aid and curriculum development for lifelong learning.

 

Our shared perception of the need for Ôcharacter developmentÕ in professional life led Dr. Whitehead to supervise this thesis presenting my emergent living educational theory of lifelong learning as an organic international educator with an integrated character. The learning process in producing this dissertation has enriched my understanding of my professional self and improved my ability to share my personal knowledge, skills and attitudes with other professionals.

 

This dissertation is a personal interpretation of my professional learning. No criticism was intended towards any person and organisation mentioned in this dissertation.

Chapter one

An Introduction

 

Each of us is here to discover our higher self or our spiritual self (Chopra 1996, p. 97).

 

Discover your divinity, find your unique talent, serve humanity with it, and you can generate all the wealth you want (Chopra 1994, p. 101).

 

 

Self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom and therefore the beginning of transformation or regeneration (Krishnamurti 1975, P. 43).

 

 

This paper summarises my EdD thesis based on my values expressed in above quotations. It presents my self-knowledge as a professional educator with embodied spiritual values and vast technical competence in solving educational problems in an international context. The spiritual values originated from my belief in the principle of oneness and interdependence of life apparent in nature. The spiritual values include owning and contexualising roles in the service of one life. Owning means taking responsibility for personal and social development and contextualising means providing leadership in creating learning environments including understanding realities, creating visions, developing strategies to fill the gap between realities and visions with Ôaction researchÕ.

 

 This thesis aims to explicate my embodied professional knowledge acquired over forty years to share it with academics, policy makers, educators and aid agencies. This self-study as a narrative inquiry presents my reflections-on-actions in various international contexts and professional roles. It presents my professional knowledge, skills and attitudes. More importantly, it presents personal missions, purposes and goals in my professional life and my living educational theory.

 

My present self in (chapter 9) evolved from its dialogue with various roles and contexts including India, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Western Samoa and Mauritius (appendix A).   The roles included a student, a teacher, a teacher trainer, a consultant in curriculum development, staff development, school improvement and development and human resource development in organisations. A portfolio of my professional self (appendix B) and my living educational theory (chapter 10) have emerged from this inquiry.

 

The thesis is divided into ten chapters. The first two chapters provide an introduction and the research methodology. Chapters 3-8 provide my living educational theories and professional images in various international contexts and roles. Chapter 9 presents an emergent profile of my present professional self. Chapter 10 presents my emergent living educational theory and an emergent epistemology as an international educator.

 

There are 23 appendices in this thesis. Appendices 18,19,20,21, appendix A, and appendix B are the integral parts of the main body of the thesis. I had to present them as appendices to keep the thesis within 40,000 words to meet the University requirements. Appendix 18 presents my self as a student to become a technician builder and a qualified technical teacher. Appendix 19 provides glimpses of contextual differences in the various counties I lived and worked in. Appendix 20 presents significant influences on the making of my present professional self. Appendix 21 provides a list of my other academic writings with high transfer value. Appendix A illustrates the conceptual framework I used to make sense of my professional life and appendix B summarises my learning and contributions emerging from the interaction of the various selves in various contexts.  The other appendices (not Included here) were included to support the text of the thesis. The thesis aims to address the professional needs of practitioners and academics. It has been a difficult but a valuable task to meet a variety of needs.

 

 

Chapter Two

Research Methodology

 

Self is narrative configuration, a telling, an unfolding and developing story (Bullough Jr. 1998).

 

When the unit of inquiry is the living ÔIÕ Whitehead (1989), I study my practice as I try to understand and improve it, my research generates a theory of myself (Mcniff and Whitehead 2000, p. 14).

 

The learning careers are biographical. They have pasts which are repeated, constructed and deconstructed in response to new-found purposesÉ.learning careers thus incorporate notions of structure, of agency and action, providing some basis for a unified theory of learning (Bloomer 1997, p.153)

 

The conceptual framework used to understand my professional career (Bloomer 1997) is based on the dialectical relationship between my self, roles and the contexts with belief in the principle of oneness and interdependence of the world illustrated in appendix A. The disjunctures between the three elements provided need for continuous learning and my spiritual belief provided direction to my professional learning. The emergent pattern of growth began with learning to perform certain roles, followed by understanding of the contextual influences.  The self-knowledge presented in this thesis came last. This pattern emerged from changes in my professional needs and values and the influences of the various contexts.

 

This thesis presents the what, how and why of my present self and my living educational theory as an international educator with spiritual values. The living educational theories ( Mcniff and Whitehead 2000) present personal accounts to show how and why individuals have become better practitioners. These accounts focus on personal development based on ethical values showing continuity in learning in the present in the light of past experience and future aspirations. In this context my CV in the form of a narrative inquiry became my living educational theory.

 

The narrative inquiry as reflections-on-actions provided a good fit for the study of my professional life (Bullough Jr. 1998).  It is based on rich data in the form of stories, cases, critical incidents, documentary evidence, professional literature, interactions with critical friends and personal academic learning and insights. My intense interest to understand my professional self and consistency in patterns emerging over a very long period of my professional life provide a reasonable reliability to these accounts. The academic validity might be enhanced with the use of multimedia, particularly with the use of professional dialogues as reflections-in-action. The professional validity of these accounts rests largely with the readers in using these accounts to understand their own professional lives and in using a large amount of technical material with high transfer value (Appendix B). Several new ideas have also emerged to improve practice in the future

 

Chapter Three

The Making of a Lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic (1965-8) and Sheffield Polytechnic ( 1968-71)

 

Teaching implies the highest form of understanding (Aristotle).

 

Teaching means not only transmitting knowledge, but, transforming and extending it as well. Teaching keeps the flame of scholarship alive (Boyer 1990, p. 24).

 

In fact the easiest way to get what you want is to help others what they want (Chopra 1996, p. 31)

 

This chapter shows how I attempted to gather the scholarship of teaching expressed in Chopra 1996, Boyer 1990 and Aristotle in filling the gap between my teaching competence and the role requirements. It is mainly concerned with my learning to become a professional builder and a lecturer of construction technology, economics and management to teach at all levels in the FE/HE sector. It presents my self (Bullough Jr. 1998) as a lecturer in two polytechnics with an emergent living educational theory.

 

The Singapore Polytechnic Experience

Immediately after obtaining my Certificate in Education from the Leeds University, I joined   Singapore Polytechnic as a senior instructor.  I remember the Singapore experience for my unusual ability to convert my teaching role into a learning opportunity to become a professional builder and for the hazards of working in a developing country without previous overseas experience. In the Singapore Polytechnic the focus of my attention was on self-development, particularly to obtain a professional qualifications in Building. I was working in a highly empowering environment teaching construction technology, economics and management to technician and professional level full-time students.

 

My main achievements of this period include obtaining a professional qualification in Building through self-learning and a commendation from the external examiner for an excellent examination paper set in construction technology. After obtaining my professional qualifications I rose from a senior instructor to a lecturer in building. These notable achievements for a beginner in teaching were marred by a family tragedy bringing me back to England in 1968. I managed to join Sheffield Polytechnic soon after I arrived UK.

 

The Sheffield Polytechnic Experience

In the Sheffield Polytechnic (1968-71) I began as a lecture mainly interested in pedagogy. In this polytechnic I learnt the value of human relations, competence and confidence in teaching building subjects to inservice and preservice students. My main professional achievements of this period include a commendation for setting an excellent examination paper in construction economics for HND students, a high success rate amongst students in an external examination in quantity surveying and a highly successful short-course conducted on Ôthe estimating practices in the building industry in the UKÕ for professional builders, quantity surveyors and architects. However, I worked in a highly hierarchical organisation with little opportunity for career advance.

 

At the end of this phase a lecturer in building technology with a Certificate in Education and 8 years of on-the-job teaching experience emerged with a new professional interest and search for a context congenial for career development. My emergent living educational theory of this period is that reflective teaching is continuous learning.

 

Lack of prospects for promotion and new interest in learning to use multimedia and multi-modes of instruction in teaching brought me in Hong Kong as a senior lecturer in teacher training.  The next chapter deals with learning to be a teacher trainer at a time when little was known about teacher training.

 

Chapter Four

The Making of a Teacher Trainer at The Hong Kong Technical TeachersÕ College (HKTTC) during 1971to 1981

 

 

Self-study is about the learning experience that is embedded within teachers creating new learning experiences for themselves and those they teach. Like new teachers, teacher educators must learn from new experience and self-study is a way to that (Hamilton et al 1998, p. 6).

 

This period is divided into two parts. The first three years were mainly devoted to filling the gap between my existing professional competence and the new role requirements at the Morrison Hill Technical Institute using self-study (Hamilton et al 1998). This period provides useful insights into my tensions and opportunities in learning to become a teacher trainer in an overseas context.  Later seven years present my self as the director of teaching-learning resources and curriculum development at the HKTTC. I fondly remember this time in Hong Kong for working in a highly supportive context, for my significant professional growth and contributions towards the establishment and development of the HKTTC. I was totally committed to my professional work and professional development. In return, I enjoyed tremendous trust and autonomy from my students, colleagues and students. My main professional interest was the application of educational technology to improve classroom teaching. My living educational theory was the use of self-study to learn to become a teacher trainer.

 

 

Morrison-Hill Technical Institute ( MHTI) Experience(1971-4)

During the first three years at the Morrison Hill Technical Institute I learnt to be a teacher trainer with a judicious blend of formal training and on-the-job experience. I successfully introduced a systematic approach to teacher training enabling me and other trainers to learn from their on-the-job experience and test their propositional knowledge acquired from formal training. I taught foundation courses to technical teachers and instructors attending a one-year full-time training programme for a Technical TeachersÕ Certificate.

 

The main accomplishments of this period were the replacement of a piecemeal approach to teacher training with a systematic approach, the introduction of written curricula and development of excellent relations with students, colleagues and seniors. My employer rewarded me for my contributions by promoting me to a principal lecturer, granting me a paid further formal training for a diploma in educational technology at the Plymouth Polytechnic and extending my contract for further two and half years.

 

The HKTTC Experience (1974-81)

I returned to England after completing the Diploma in Educational Technology as the director of teaching-learning resources and curriculum development at the newly established technical teachersÕ training college called (HKTTC). I was particularly interested in the application of educational technology to achieve specific learning objectives in classroom teaching and to improve the quality of vocational education and training through curriculum development (Stenhouse 1975). As a senior educator I received first-hand experience in all aspects of establishing a new college of education and teaching instruction and curriculum development to technical teachers and trainers. Again I enjoyed tremendous credibility and trust with my students, colleagues and seniors for providing leadership in teacher training. This leadership came from my integrated character, collaborative nature and technical competence acquired from continuous learning through planned action.

 

At the end of my second contract I spent one year at the University of Lancaster to obtain MA in Education. From my MA dissertation called ÒEducational Technology in Curriculum DevelopmentÓ I became aware of the limitations of the application of educational technology to improve the quality of vocational education and training. Consequently during my last two and half years I became interested in studying the gap between training based on prepositional knowledge and teachersÕ practical knowledge. In 198I I returned to England for good to pursue PhD at the University of Lancaster. My research proposal involved the study of teachersÕ instructional planning in real settings.

 

An experienced teacher trainer with on-the-job experience and MA in Education emerged after ten years in Hong Kong. At this time I was mainly interested in technical education to make a living and I had acquired a notable technical competence in human relations and in performance of various roles in teacher training. However, I was not aware of the influence of my character and personal belief in the oneness and interdependence of life on my professional work. My living educational theory was the application of educational technology (systematic application of tools and techniques of technology) to increase efficiency and effectiveness in teaching and learning.

 

Chapter Five

The Making of an Advisor in Curriculum and Staff Development at the Fiji Institute of Technology(FIT) 1981- 1985

 

Continuous attention to context is a must. Responsiveness to context requires a mindset of continuous development, whereby the individuals in conjunction with their colleagues, need to be ready to adjust and change their skills and approach according to their needs and demands of stakeholders. Searching for leaders who display predetermined capabilities means little in todayÕs world (Kakabadese  2001, p. 4).

 

The physical laws of the universe are actually this whole process of divinity in motion, or consciousness in motion. When we understand these laws and apply them in our lives, anything we want can be created, because the same laws that nature uses to create a forest, or a galaxy, or a star, or a human body can also bring about the fulfilment of our deepest desires (Chopra 1996, p. 5)

 

 

Soon after joining the University of Lancaster as a full time student I accepted the above post from the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC). This post marks my interest in curriculum development to bridge the gap between the planned and the operational curriculum (Stenhouse, 1975) and learning to own and contextualise educational problems( Kakabadese 2001). I remember this project for learning to be a consultant at a time when all the stakeholders knew little about the work of international educators.  Creativity of my mind and critical judgement emerges from my ability in converting a list of assigned tasks into a genuine learning situation for those involved in this project. Most importantly, my spiritual awakening came at that time (See Chopra 1996, p.5) enabling me to own other peoples problems. This project ended with a resounding success beyond the expectations of stakeholders.

 

I valued freedom to act for development ( Sen 1999). I enjoyed considerable freedom to act to solve the given problem. My employer provided me with a full autonomy and trust and I offered my full commitment towards the success of this project. My integrated character based on spiritual values and technical competence provided me with credibility and trust with the management and the staff of the Institute to lead them in this project. I conducted nine studies on ÔteachersÕ planningÕ to understand the reality of the operational curriculum and developed a new strategy to link reality with a collaborative vision. Management and the teaching staff development was an integral part of the implementation strategy designed to solve the defined problem. I intuitively used the problem-based action research (Robinson1993) to solve the FIT problem. A new model of Ôschool-based curriculum developmentÕ (SBCD) emerged as a continuous dialogue between the planned curriculum as vision and the operational curriculum as reality (Punia 1992). This model provides an example of the originality of my mind at that time.

 

Thus this project added a new experience of school-based curriculum development (SBCD) to my professional growth (Punia 1992) and it became my standard of professional judgement used to measure the effectiveness of my later projects reported in this thesis. My emergent living educational theory is based on owning and contextalising problems with belief in the living oneness of the cosmos. My emergent image as a consultant is not that of a technician carrying out other peopleÕs ideas: it is that of professional educator engaged in his personal and professional development and providing leadership to other learning individuals and organisations.

 

While still working at FIT, CFTC offered me with another assignment at Western Samoa Technical Institute with a similar brief. I accepted the assignment without any inquiry to understand the real problem. Next chapter presents later difficulties and excitements of this project. A leap in the dark with a spiritual belief in the oneness and interdependence of life achieved remarkable and/or miraculous results. I believe that my spiritual values provided me with the motivation and courage to tackle this difficult project.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

The Making of a CFTC Advisor in Institute Improvement at the Western Samoa Technical Institute ( WSTI) 1985-1990

 

What comes out of that is often called good luck. Good luck is nothing but preparedness and opportunity coming together. When the two are mixed together with an alert witnessing of the chaos, a solution emerges that will be of evolutionary benefit to you and all those that you come in contact with. This is the perfect recipe for success, and it is based on the law of detachment (Chopra 1996, p. 90).

 

I remember this project commencing with a hopeless start but finishing with results beyond my imagination. The results were almost miraculous. I consider this project the work of a consultant with spiritual values who provided his leadership without expectations for any rewards and recognition from the host country and his employer in London. I cheerfully played many roles beyond my job-description and worked in very difficult circumstances. I find that the Spiritual law of detachment (Chopra 1996, p.90 above) was my living educational theory in this project.

 

 

Unlike the previous project aimed at school-based curriculum development, this project aimed at rescuing a derelict technical institute from a closure. Initially I was mainly responsible for curriculum and staff development, but soon I had to assume leadership in building the institute as a whole. Two other aid agencies, UNDP and AIDAB, collaborated with me in building the institute as a whole.  I provided leadership in determining the current reality, project mission, strategy to close the gap between the reality and the mission using problem-based action research (Robinson 1993). Thus I generated my own mental model of Ôschool improvementÕ as a dialectical process amongst curriculum, context and organisation. The originality of my mind in this project is in the use of Òconnective curriculumÓ(Young 1998) in preparing technical students for industry; training teachers to cope with the change and in providing leadership in solving a very difficult educational problem.  FIT and WSTI projects are examples of my own living educational theories/standards of professional judgement as an international consultant with a particular perspective on life and my professional self.

 

WSTI project extended my technical competence in curriculum and staff development into school improvement as a whole. At this time another transformation occurred in my professional self. In the next chapter I move away from working in institutionalised technical and vocational education into the use of training to solve performance problems within organisations.

 

Chapter 7

The Making of a Consultant in Training Technology at the Industrial and Vocational Training Board (IVTB) 1992-96 and Mauritius Institute of Public Administration and Management ( MIPAM) 1996-7)

 

Give a man a fish to feed him for the day, teach him to catch a fish to feed him for life. (Chinese Saying)

 

Good quality training is not merely a response to training needs. It creates further training needs. Poor quality training discredits training and deconstructs training needs. High quality in training programmes is necessary to create new training needs and to meet  current needs (Punia 1996).

 

What we are speaks louder than what we say (Covey 1992).

 

In the previous two projects I was concerned with the provision of vocational education and training in two national training institutes. The following two projects focus on training within organisations under the leadership of two training boards in Mauritius. The IVTB was mainly responsible for trade and technician training for the public and private sectors of the economy while MIPAM provided training to the mangers in the public sector.  In these projects I was concerned with providing leadership in training technology including curriculum and staff development in establishing two new training boards with different work cultures and training tasks. The above three quotations present my emergent living educational theory of training in this chapter.

 

The IVTB Experience ( 1992-6)

I remember IVTB for a piecemeal approach to training. This approach is not unusual for organisations in the yearly years of their existence. However, I enjoyed a little trust and support from the host institution mainly concerned with importing training technology to set up new training centres without adequate provision for  personal learning.  I was involved in all aspects of establishing new training centres but I was mainly concerned with planning, implementing and evaluating competency-based curriculum and associated staff development. This chapter offers two examples of high successes with a high transfer value in other contexts. First, there is an example of the use of competency-based curriculum in solving a national performance problem. Secondly, there is an excellent example of offering a training programme to train the local trainers to provide them with qualified trainer status.

 

The IVTB project provides a stark contrast to the FIT project. In this project a professional consultant without autonomy and mutual trust had to play a technician role under top management with little experience of training and intention to learn from consultants. This contextual change did not affect my commitment towards my work.  A few people understood that my commitment originated from my spiritual belief and an integrated character, not from personal status and financial gains.

 

The MIPAM Experience( 1996-7)

In MIPAM I worked for UNDP as a consultant in management training for inservice managers from the public administration. I intuitively used Ôrelations approach to curriculum developmentÕ (Kessels and Plomp 1999) to improve the quality of training programmes designed to improve performance on-the-job. The training programmes met carefully defined performance needs of the inservice managers with direct involvement of the management in all aspects of the programmes. The other accomplishments included a highly successful programme in ÔTraining Needs AnalysisÕ offered to the personnel officers from the public sector and a Ôtraining of trainers programmeÕ offered to supervisors from industrial and commercial organisations.   The high quality of these training programmes provided MIPAM credibility from its clients in a very short time. Consequently the demand for training had grown tenfold in one year.  The MIPAM experience presents excellent episodes of the use of adult learning and team learning (Senge 1990). These episodes have a high transfer value in other contexts.

 

In the early years of their existence IVTB and MIPAM were focused on the execution of specific tasks with technical assistance from the hired consultants.  The top management was not yet concerned with owning and contextualising their problems and they had no clear policies for the future development of these boards. The trainers and the managers of both of these boards were academics with educational background and little training experience. They often failed to distinguish between education and training.

 

These projects did not meet my standards of professional judgement. Historically training boards in developed countries were set up to provide models of training to industry. Both training boards had a long way to go before they could provide leadership in training. My living educational theory of establishing training boards is based on two principles. First, high quality training programmes create needs for further training while poor quality training programmes can do more harm than good and they discredit training. Secondly, trainers have to practice what they teach. It might be a high expectation from new organisations lacking previous experience of training. On the whole much was accomplished in both organisations. The success of IVTB might be assessed by the quantity of work accomplished in a short time but without a due regard for staff development. The MIPAM became highly efficient and effective but without a long- term vision and staff development.

 

Chapter 8

The Making of an Academic at the University of Bath (1998-2000)

 

A truly educated person has both procedural knowledge-the cognitive ability to get something done- and declarative knowledge, meaning the ability to verbalise coherent thought and ability to assimilate the coherent verbalisation of others. (Leamnson 2002, p. 97).

 

Just as breathing exercises help integrate body and mind, writing is a psycho-neural muscular activity, which helps to bridge and integrate the conscious and subconscious minds. Writing distils, crystallises and clarifies thought and helps to break the whole (Covey 1992, p. 135).

 

When you present your ideas clearly, specifically, visually and most important, contextually- in the context of a deep understanding of their paradigms and concerns- you significantly increase the credibility of your Ideas (Covey 1992, p. 257)

 

As a professional I used routines and insights gained from first-hand experience and prepositional knowledge from formal education and training. My communication skills included written reports and professional dialogues (Senge 1990). During this period at the University of Bath I learnt to translate my embodied practical experience into professional knowledge to share it with the academics. I learnt to integrate my disjointed experiences from practice into coherent thoughts to produce personal practical knowledge to communicate it with the academics. I spent considerable time to improve reading and writing, the basic skills of lifelong learning (Covey 1992, Leamonson 2002). Appendix 20 provides further details of how I acquired my lifelong learning skills. The quotations at the top of this chapter present my living educational theories in improving my communication with the academics.

 

During this period I successfully completed four taught modules: (1) philosophy and practice of international education, (2) research methods, (3) educational policy and (4) curriculum development with associated assessed papers in the EdD programme offered at the University of Bath. This chapter outlines the content and learning process in producing the assessed papers with the following titles.

 

á       International education in search of a problem.

á       In search of a problem-based research methodology.

á       To what extent will top-down policies in education influence curriculum, assessment and teaching?

á      Relevance in vocational education and training.

 

 

Chapter 9

The Making of a Transformative Educator

 

 

Transformatory learning is about participating in the whole experience of learning. It doe not stress how facts and objective knowledge are learned in substantive area of curriculum, but focuses on the learner, the learning context and the learning process. We illustrate how the emotional, social, spiritual and cognitive aspects of learning interrelate; the importance of group and social context on learning and how people and organisations are transformed through engaging with the learning process (Brandt 2002, p. 98).

 

 

This chapter presents myself as a transformative educator emerging from the accounts presented in the previous chapters. The hallmark in my professionalism in education is my ability to generate transformatory learning situations (Brandt 2000). This is expected of the leaders in education in the context of self-study, lifelong learning and in the generation of learning organisations in the present century. I developed this competence from my lifelong learning based on the spiritual principle of oneness and interrelatedness of life. This chapter answers three questions about my present professional self:

 

Who am I? (Identity)

How did I become that way? (Epistemology)

Why did I choose to be what I am? (Ontology)

 

I see myself as an organic academic who was continuously engaged in learning to renew his knowledge, skills and attitudes and a transformative educator engaged in professional and personal development. A person with an integrated character based on a spiritual belief and a vast technical competence emerges from the accounts in the previous chapters. My integrated character provided me with the ability to inspire trust and collaboration amongst others. My technical competence provided special ability to contextualise problems and to offer genuine solutions and learning opportunities.

 

My spiritual belief provided me with the courage to face complexity and uncertainty in difficult circumstances. The guiding principle of my life was belief in the oneness and interrelatedness of the universe and the purpose of my human life was to serve the whole. I did not live a planned life: I moved with the flow of life as a whole with guidance from my spiritual faith/ belief. The emergent developmental process consists of the following value changes:

 

Duality of the individual self-----------------------------Oneness of the universal self.

Education for making a living-------------------------------- Education to make a life.

Learning from formal education-----------------------------Continuous self-learning.

Certainty of human knowledge -------------------Uncertainty of human knowledge.

 

These transformations in my explicit knowledge may be further summarised. The initial Interest in technical knowledge extended to contextual knowledge. Knowledge of context/ people interface developed into interest in self-knowledge contained in this thesis. Of course these transformations were not discreet; there were overlaps. The present self is an integrated whole emerging from these changes. My future interest includes personal development to acquire full freedom of the human potential in the service of the cosmic whole.

 

The following Ôstandards of professional judgementÕ might be used to assess the quality of my professional learning.

1. Using of a framework of values to provide coherence in learning.

2. Use of a reflective attitude towards learning from experience

3.Use of Research-based approach to personal and organisation development

4.Understanding of theory/practice interface.

5.Ability to generate learning opportunities.

6.Ability to generate trust with embodied values and personal character.

7.Ability for continuous learning to make a living and to make life.

 

The theoretical frameworks and my technical competence is summarised in appendix A & appendix B. The accounts of my spiritual growth and integration of technology with spirituality and my emergent living educational theory remain insufficient to fulfil the requirements of my abstract. Chapter ten makes up this deficiency. This chapter is particularly addressed towards academic audience to fulfil the University requirements for the award of an EdD. The criteria for the award demands evidence of my critical judgement and an originality of mind.

 

Chapter Ten

My Emergent Living Educational theory with an Emergent Epistemology of Practice

 

In the world in which we live today, it is indeed imperative that we continue learning how to listen to each other, how to accept each other with all our differences, how to develop a dialogue amongst one another. Only through an attentive and inclusive dialogue will we be able to learn to live together in peace ( Matasuura 2002, p. 3).

 

When we really, deeply understand each other, we open the door to creative solutions and third alternatives. Our differences are no longer stumbling blocks to communication and progress. Instead they become stepping- stones to synergy (Covey 1992, p. 259).

 

We search for moments of awareness and intensified conscious (Green, p. 6,) moments of awakening, the moments of dialoguing. We search for a global community in the making (Dewey 1916) - a community in which people listen to and hear the voices of those who live lives different than their own, a community that creates possibility for developing respect, empathy and compassion, and a community that thrives on the passionate involvement and commitment of its members for social change (He, Phillon and Roeberge 1999; Phillon and He 2001) and a community that cultivates humanity ( He and Phillon 2002, pp. 4-5).

 

 

In this final chapter I reflect on the content of the previous chapters of my thesis to detect my living educational theory as an international educator who passionately embodied the thoughts in the three quotations provided above. My living educational theory emerges from the integration of a spiritual principle of oneness and interrelatedness of life with my technical competence. Therefore, this chapter includes:

á       The origin and growth of my spiritual belief as a principle to live by.

á       The integration of values derived from my spiritual belief into my professional growth and continuous learning.

á       The emergent living educational theory and a new epistemology.

á       The value of this work to other stakeholders.

 

The Origin and Growth of My Spiritual belief

The belief in the oneness and interdependence of the life originated from my family background. However, this belief remained implicit in the early years of my professional growth  (chapters 3&4). In Fiji (chapter 5) I first experienced spirituality in the form of overwhelming love of everything in sight and the development of ability to communicate with my higher self/ collective consciousness. I call these experiences spiritual as they are beyond rational explanations. They awakened an overwhelming desire in me to serve the whole creation. To understand the nature of spirituality I consulted a limited literature (appendix 20) and approached a spiritual master who initiated me into spirituality in 1985 while I was still working at FIT.

 

According to this master spirituality is more than experiencing the supernatural occasionally. Spirituality deals with personal development to release human potential to the full. It involves lifelong learning, mainly through meditation as taught by a spiritual master and it is a way of life to be deliberately adopted. After my initiation I lived a disciplined life according to the teachings of my master.

 

Integration of Spiritual Values with Technical Competence to Create a Living Educational Theory and a New Epistemology

Two values emerging from my spiritual belief were an integral part of my professional life. I call them Ôowning rolesÕ and Ôcontextualising problemsÕ. Owning originated from my spiritual belief whereas technical competence provided me with the ability to contextualise solutions to problems. These values enabled me to convert my roles into learning experiences for personal and cosmic growth. Owning problems explains my commitment towards my roles and the ability to generate collaboration. The Contextualising processes included understanding reality, generation of a collaborative mission and using problem-based action research to fill the gap between reality and mission. I have recently learnt that owning and contextualising are the two necessary elements of action research. Without owning and contextualising problems there is no action research.  However, I was not conscious of action research as a research methodology at that time.

 

The accounts in various chapters of this thesis show that in the early part of my professional self (chapters 3&4) I was mainly concerned with the development of my technical competence including knowledge, skills and attitudes.  My spiritual belief and associated values remained a tacit knowledge. Character development including integrity and maturity based on spiritual principles assumed priority from chapter 5 onwards.  The interaction amongst my roles, selves and contexts (figure 1) generated my living educational theories in various chapters. The interface between my belief and technical growth provided direction to my professional development. The emergent living educational theory from my professional development is illustrated and explained below.

 

 

 

Role                                                   Context

 

 

 

                                     

  Self

 

Figure 1: My Emergent Living Educational Theory

 

The emergent living educational theory in figure 1 is based on my embodied spiritual belief and an organismic world-view. Three values have emerged from the interface amongst the three components for the application of this theory elsewhere. These are autonomy, commitment and trust.  The overlap in role and context represents the degree of autonomy and responsibility I enjoyed in my roles. The overlap between the self and the role stands for my commitment to own and contextualise the roles and the overlap between the context and the self stands for the mutual trust between the self and the context. The area covered by the three circles represents continuous growth of the individual self and unity between the individual self and the context. A complete unity is very rare to accomplish. According to my master, in case of a complete unity amongst these components, the door to inner consciousness opens and spiritual journey begins. The emergent theory presents my way to integrate technical and spiritual values to live and work together, to learn and serve the whole creation.

 

According to this view life moves forward holistically and our visions, missions and purposes are always embodied in our actions and behaviour but they remain tacit knowledge. Living educational theory (Whitehead, 1999) form of action research provides a useful methodology to make embodied and tacit knowledge explicit. This thesis presents how I made my implicit knowledge explicit. It indicates my self not only a bundle of knowledge, skills and attitudes directed towards self actualisation but it also presents my transcendental self with a mission, purpose and values in life directed towards common good. Finally my self emerges as a principle: the principle of oneness and interdependence of life.

 

It is important to distinguish my living theory from the work of Senge (1990) and Covey (1992). Unlike my thesis based on my life flowing naturally, their work is based on the assumption that human beings can live planned lives towards defined visions, missions and purposes. They have provided us with excellent propositional knowledge to live by. This thesis shows that our visions, missions and purposes in life have to be discovered and they emerge gradually. Furthermore, we know that we are not in complete control of our lives. Life is a mixture of planned and unplanned experiences. This thesis shows that both planned and unplanned life is a rich source of opportunities for personal growth. Technology teaches us to live a planned life whereas spirituality teaches us how to cope with unplanned life.

 

The values embedded in my living educational theory are the values of professional dialogue (Senge 1990). According to (Senge 1990) professional dialogue consists of advocacy and inquiry skills. However, these skills can be practised only in environments meeting the conditions outlined in figure 1. Hence professional dialogue emerges as a new form of living educational theory with a new epistemology.

 

Professional Dialogue as a New Epistemology

It was a time consuming and expensive business to produce my thesis using a narrative inquiry based on reflections-on-action to understand the nature of my present professional self as a form of dialogue between my professional self and various roles and contexts. It may also be argued that constructing the image of my present professional I/self based on past actions has a low validity and inconsistency in presenting the concept of a living theory.

 

However, my narrative of the past experiences is also the construction of my present self in dialogue with its past. When I am thinking of my past with my present self I am thinking about myself at present.  Furthermore, the narrative of my reflection-on action over a long period of my professional growth provides a reliable and a useful pattern of my professional life to practitioners to examine their own lives and use the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to solve their own problems.

.

However, professional dialogue (Senge 1990) in the form of dialectical relationship between the professional self with its various contexts in reflections-in-action and reflections-on-action can enhance the validity of this type of a thesis. This type of dialogue incorporates all the values of my emergent living educational theory and associated conditions for its practice.  In my view professional dialogue of this kind is the highest achievement of a professional educator who becomes the embodiment of this form of living educational theory. However we do not know enough about this kind of dialogue to enable us to practice and teach it deliberately. As mentioned before I enjoyed this type of spontaneous dialogue with the principal of FIT and Jack Whitehead, occasionally.

 

According to my limited personal experience high quality dialogue occurs spontaneously amongst professionals and it has the potential to improve practice and generate new insights. Creative professional dialogue involves advocacy and inquiry skills in open environments with belief in the power of truth (Senge 1990), integrating technical and spiritual values. One example of my professional dialogue in a staff meeting in Hong Kong is on page 55. During this episode I used inquiry, advocacy and personal character to successfully convert a confrontation situation into a learning episode.

 

All professional dialogue is not educational. Human dialogue occurs in a variety of forms and at various levels of validity and reliability. Generally practitioners tend to use dichotomous thinking, use advocacy skills, adopt defensive routines and use win/loose type of communication. Thus they fail to learn from professional experience. Professional dialogue is a useful tool for team learning (Senge 1990), collective thinking and mutual cooperation amongst managers. I spent many years as a consultant towards this goal. 

 

It is important to distinguish my professional dialogue with the propositional knowledge from my spiritual dialogue of my individual self with the universal self as provided in chapter 5, page 71. This kind of dialogue was a form of personal meditation with a focused attention and interest to understand a phenomenon. To understand the nature of universal reality/self Krishnamurti (1975) recommended awareness from moment to moment without a choice but it is a difficult task. According to him our choices introduce individuality in the form of personal values. Constructing this dissertation from reflections on my past experience with focused attention to understand the nature of my professional self has also been a form of meditation. Every time I examine this dissertation with this attitude of mind new ideas spring up.

 

Professional Value of this Work

This dissertation is addressed to my self, international educators, aid agencies, professional educators and researchers. It offers my work as an international educator with a vast technical ability and an integrated character based on belief in the oneness and interrelatedness of creation. I show a special ability in converting my roles into learning opportunities. A new epistemology for professional development of top management in organisations, new models of lifelong learning and action research have emerged from this inquiry for the improvement of current professional practices. A large amount of technical knowledge, skills and attitudes with high transfer value is also available for other professional practitioners. These discoveries have made this thesis a worthwhile research project.

 

In future research this kind of inquiry might be improved with the use of multimedia, and professional dialogue to enhance validity and consistency with the living educational theory approach to action research. Furthermore, for an academic work of this kind it might be more meaningful and practical to deal with one role in one context. This was not possible for the present researcher in his inquiry due to contextual constraints and his aim to construct the image of his professional self with his CV as his curriculum of lifelong professional learning.

 

This inquiry has enhanced my professional competence significantly. In the past I offered leadership in curriculum development, staff development, school improvement and Human Resource Development in public and private organisations as presented in previous chapters of this thesis (Appendix B). In addition to that I can provide professional guidance in self-development using the living educational theory approach to action research (Whitehead 1999), development of learning organisations (Senge 1990), development of character ethic (Covey 1992). I am particularly interested in exploring and developing professional dialogue as a new tool for management development in organisations, promotion of action research for personal and professional development and the development of lifelong learning to live, love, learn and leave a legacy (Covey 1994).

 

Summary

Self-knowledge and continuous learning to learn to live, love, learn and leave a legacy are the challenges for the 21st century (Covey 1992, 1994 & Senge 1990). This thesis presents a professional educator in many roles and contexts striving to achieve these goals. I have lived my life as a mystery with faith in the principle of oneness and interrelatedness of life. I have learnt more about myself than I could share in words in this dissertation.

 

This inquiry shows new possibilities for international aid. Technology integrated with the principle of oneness and interdependence has the potential to offer a new educational theory for generating commitment, cooperative living, character development (Covey 1992, 1994) and continuous learning (Senge, 1990). Professional dialogue emerges a sophisticated epistemology of oneness and inter-relatedness of life and it is particularly suitable for the personal development of top professionals and academics as leaders of learning organisations. A possible thesis of this dissertation might be that professional dialogue of the self with its context in nature and with its inner self is the way to holistic self-knowledge. And it demands lifelong and continuous learning and a new epistemology.

 

I commenced my professional journey as a student in gaining technical knowledge. Studentship led into teaching this knowledge to others. Later teaching merged into studentship for self-knowledge. Exploration of life continues. According to T.S. Elliott:

 

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

(T.S. Elliott, Little Gidding)

 

In 1985 in my discourse on spirituality with the staff of FIT I suggested that the best form of spirituality in education is for us to fully develop ourselves to perform our duties to the best of our abilities to serve our clients. This remains my living educational theory to become a professional educator and a useful human being. This thesis presents my professional life as a creative process with a modest message for my professional colleagues. ÒBecoming is not a logical process. It is an emergent process; and a creative one. The creative process of any kind means giving birth to new ( Skolimowski 1994, p. 225). This thesis provided me with an excellent opportunity to experience this process.

 

Appendix 18

Studentship to Become a Technician Builder and a Technical Teacher

This chapter provides glimpses into my early disposition and ability to learn and how the learning opportunities and these tendencies came together to provide a suitable foundation for future lifelong learning. The chapter is divided into two parts. Part one presents my studentship as a technician in the Reading College of Technology and part two deals with studentship at the Huddersfield Technical TeachersÕ College. The paper presents narratives of several learning strategies in action, including rote learning in India, learning theory from Reading College of Technology, learning practical skills from a building firm in Reading and learning to integrate theory with practice to become a technician builder. I was intuitively aware of connective curriculum (Young 1998). Learning to teach in a technical teachers college included self-study, reflective teaching and owning responsibility for student learning without consciously being aware of these strategies in those days.

 

Appendix 19

Contextual Differences and unity in various Contexts

In this paper I present my personal perceptions of the contextual similarities and differences in the various countries I worked and lived in. The common problem of these countries was to work and live together as an international community and parts of one interdependent life on this planet. The education systems were mainly directed towards making a living. Education for making a life did not exist. Each country had something to offer and something to receive to improve the quality of human life on this planet. This dialectical relationship amongst countries was not fully utilized due to excessive emphasis on individuality. In each country life moved holistically to make it difficult to change an element with considerable impact on the whole. Lack of understanding of the principle of oneness and interdependence of life apparent in nature seemed to be the cause of human conflict.

 

I made important professional discoveries from international living including the need for contextualising knowledge, need for education to make life and need to see unity underneath the apparent diversity in naming and framing human experience. Nature seems to have taught me more than my professional roles. I have attempted to share these insights and live accordingly.

 

 

Appendix 20

Validation of my Emergent Living educational Theory of life-long learning

This paper presents how I acquired skills of lifelong learning from various sources in my context. Part one includes learning from interaction with influential people. It included rapid reading in professional work, use of the card index system in literature reviews, theory and practice interface, technical and general education interface, a living educational theory form of action research and professional dialogue as a form of research.

 

Part two is a cursory review of some of the literature influencing my professional life and character. I have review Covey (1992) on character ethic; Senge (1990) on learning organisations; Krishnamurti (1987) on self-knowledge; Krishna Prem (1969) on Bhagavad Gita and Jagat  Singh Maharaj (1959) on the science of the soul. This section validates my holistic and spiritual thinking learnt from other personal experiences.

 

Appendix. 21

 

A List of Case Records and Academic Writings

 

In my view the following list of my professional and academic writings has a high transfer value. Stenhouse (1978) distinguishes between professional and academic knowledge. He wrote: ÒThe Intermediate stage between fieldwork and reporting in readable form to general professional audienceÉÉ I shall call ÔCase recordsÕ (Stenhouse 1978, p. 32). Which kind of knowledge is more important remains a contested issue. I my view we need both types to complement each other.

 

Academic Papers

 

  1. International education in search of the problem, (2000).
  2. In search of a problem-based research methodology, (2000)
  3. To what extent will top-down or centralised initiatives determine the nature of teaching, the curriculum and assessment be successful (2000)?
  4. A ÕRelations approachÕ to curriculum development in vocational education and training, (2000).

 

 

Academic Dissertations& Theses

 

  1. Educational Technology in Theory and Practice at the Hong Kong Technical TeachersÕ College: A Diploma in Educational Technology Dissertation (1975):  The Plymouth Polytechnic.
  2. Educational Technology in Curriculum Development: A Conceptual Map. M A  (Education), The University of Lancaster Dissertation (1978).
  3. Ten studies of TeachersÕ Planning at FIT and its Use for Curriculum, Staff & Institute Development: MPhil Dissertation, The University of Bath (1992).
  4. My CV is My Curriculum: The Making of an International Educator with Spiritual Values, The University of Bath, An EdD Thesis (2004).

 

 

Professional Consultancy Project Reports to Stakeholders

 

1.     Curriculum Design in FIT (1986)

2.     Operational Curriculum in FIT (1986)

3.     Assessment of Student Achievement in FIT (1986)

4.     Curriculum Evaluation in FIT (1986)

5.     Staff Development in FIT (1986)

6.     Educational Technology in FIT (1986)

7.     Management of Change in FIT (1986)

8.     Principles of Curriculum Development used at the Western Samoa Technical   Institute. (1990)

9.     Western Samoa Technical Institute: The Final Report for the Stakeholders (1990) IVTB Training Principles and Procedure (1996)

10.  IVTB Monthly and the Final Reports (1996)

11.  MIPAM: Principles of Procedure (1997)

12.  MIPAM Monthly and the Final Reports to the Stakeholders. (1997)

 

Published and Unpublished Papers with Personal and Practical Knowledge

 

  1. Communication in Teaching: A Conceptual Framework Designed for Training Teachers (1974).
  2. A Systematic Approach to Teaching Aids / Media (1974).
  3. Sikhism: Goals and the Means (1983).
  4. The use of training in solving performance problems of Industry,      (1983).
  5. A Conceptual Map for the Planned Development of Educational Technology in Education (1984).
  6. Teacher Concerns and Useful Learning experiences of the Staff of the Fiji Institute of Technology (1984): A Research Report.
  7. Systematic Instruction planning using the Tyler Model: promise, problems according to a group of trainee teachers from the Hong Kong technical teachers college (1985): A Research Report.
  8. A Conceptual Map for Curriculum Development in Vocational Education and Training (1994).
  9. TrainersÕ Certificate in Vocational Training: problems and promises of developing a purpose-made training programme at IVTB (1995).
  10. The Nature of the Workforce and that of Further and Higher Education in Mauritius (1994).
  11. Rationalisation of Trade Training in Mauritius: progress and prospects (1994).
  12. The Competency-based Curriculum in Vocational Education and Training: the rationale (1994).
  13. The Competency-based Curriculum used in Vocational Education and Training in Mauritius.

 

Training Materials used in Training Programmes

 

1.     Practical Photography (1974): A Programmed Text.

  1. Writing Behavioural Objectives: A Programmed Text (1974).
  2. Designing TEC Units (1977): A Course of instruction for FE lecturers. 
  3. The TEC Curriculum: Analysis of the curriculum design principles (1977).
  4. The Basic Principles of Instruction Development.
  5. An Induction Programme for Newly Appointed Trainers (1993).
  6. An Induction Programme in Educational Management and Administration for Training Centre Managers  (1994).
  7. Production of Teaching/ Learning Guides in Vocational Education and Training (1994).
  8. Interpersonal Communication and Counselling Skills (1995) in Youth Training: A One-Week Training Module.
  9. Training Needs Analysis (1996) in Vocational Education and Training.
  10. Training Programme Design (1996) for Technical and Vocational Teachers.
  11. Instructional Planning in Vocational Education and Training (1996).
  12. StudentÕs Performance Assessment in Technical and Vocational Education (1996).
  13. Instruction Techniques and Media in Technical and Vocational Education (1996).
  14. The Nature and Structure of Vocational education and training (1996 in Mauritius.
  15. Microteaching in Developing Classroom Teaching Skills, (1996).
  16. Evaluating Teachers for classroom teaching (1996).
  17. Instructional and Training Techniques for Middle Management from Industry.

 

Selected References

1.     Bloomer, M (1997), Curriculum Making in Post-16 Education. London. New York: Routledge.

2.     Boyer E L (1990), Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princinton: Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching.

3.     Brandt Deborah (2002), Essay Review: Transforming Learning: individual and Global Change. Curriculum Inquiry, Vol.32, No.!, Spring 2002.

4.     Bullough, Jr (1998), Musings on Life Writing: Biography and Case Studies in Teacher Education (in) Kridel C (1998), Writing Educational Biography: Explanations in Qualitative Research. New York and London: Garland Publishing Inc.

5.     Charan Singh Maharaj (1979), Die to Live. Radha Soami Sat Sang, Beas, Punjab, India.

6.     Chopra, D (1996), Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.  London and New York: Bentam Press.

7.     Clark, Paul (2000), Learning Schools, Learning Systems. London and New York: Continuum.

8.     Connely, F M and Clandinin, D J (1999), Shaping a professional Identity: Stories of Educational Practice. New York and London: TeachersÕ College Columbia University.

9.     Covey S R (1992), The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. London: Simon and Schuster.

10.  Hamilton, M L et al eds. (1998), Reconceptualising Teaching Practice: self -study in teacher education. London: Falmer Press.

11.  He, Ming Fang & Fillon, Joan (2002), Fluctuating Landscapes, Shifting Thinking. Curriculum Inquiry 32:1 (2002).

12.  Jagat Singh Mahahraj (1959), The Science of the Soul.  Beas, Punjab, India: Radha Soami Satsang.

13.  Kakabadse, A (2001), What Makes a Good Leader in a Complex World? Independent 28/8/01.

14.  Kessels, j and Plomp, T (1999), A systematic and Relational Approach to Obtaining Curriculum Consistency in Corporate Education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol.10, No.6, pp.679-709.

15.  Krishnamurti J. (1975), The First and the Last Freedom. San Francisco: Harper.

16.  Krishnamurti, J. (1987), The Awakening of the Intelligence. San Francisco: Golancz.

17.  Krishnaprem Shree (1969), The Yoga of Bhagavad Gita. Bombay: Element Books.

18.  Leamonson, R L (2002), It is never too late: Developing cognitive skills for lifelong learning. Interactive Learning Environments, Vol.10. No.2, pp. 93-103.

19.  Matasuura, K (2002), Education for Learning to Live Together (in) PROSPECT: Quarterly Review of Comparative Education, No. 121, March 2002.

20.  Mcniff, J and Whitehead J (2000), Action Research in Organisations. London and New York: Routledge.

21.  Punia R S (1992), Research on TeachersÕ Planning and Its use in curriculum, staff and institute Development. An M.Phil. Dissertation: University of Bath.

22.  Sen Amartya(1999), Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press

23.  Senge, P M (1990), The Fifth Discipline. London: Randum House.

24.  Skolimowski, H (1994), The Participatory Mind: a new theory of knowledge and of the universe. Arkana: penguin Press.

25.  Stenhouse, Lawrence (1975), An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

26.  Young M F D (1998), The Curriculum Of the Future. London: Falmer Press.